MOSCOW, November 14 - RAPSI, Sergei Feklyunin. Russia’s Intellectual Property Court may may be established as soon as February 1, Supreme Commercial Court Chairman Anton Ivanov said on Monday.

The State Duma adopted in the first reading on October 20 draft law introduced by the Supreme Commercial Court to establish specialized courts to resolve intellectual property disputes.

The new approach implies dividing disputes into two categories - those concerning rights establishment and those concerning their violations.

The first category will include appeals against the patent watchdog's decisions. They will be considered on the first-instance level by a panel of judges. Cassation appeals against such cases will be filed with the IP Court's presidium.

The second category will include breaches of intellectual property rights. They will be reviewed by existing commercial and appellate courts on the first- and second-instance levels. Cassation appeals will be resolved by an IP Court's panel.